For immediate release: March 19, 2009
For more information contact:
Winnie Comfort or Tammy Kendig
609-292-9580

Judiciary Offers Tech-Savvy Court Users the Latest Information, Fast

Visitors to the New Jersey Courts Web site will find Court Clips, a new series of short video clips that informs court users about court programs and services, today announced Acting Administrative Director of the Courts Judge Glenn A. Grant.

"Our court users are adapting to the digital age, and so are we," said Judge Grant. "Court Clips is one of many Web site innovations that help attorneys, their clients and others stay informed about the courts."

Court Clips offer a brief overview of the programs and services that are important to the public. The first Court Clip describes the Judiciary's foreclosure mediation program and provides information on how to contact the courts to participate in the program. Future Court Clips will cover topics such as the veterans' assistance project, the drug court program, and services for self-represented litigants.

A second New Jersey Courts Web site innovation enables court users to sign up for RSS feeds on the Judiciary Web site to receive the latest information issued by the courts, including Supreme Court opinions, notices to the bar, and press releases. RSS, which stands for "really simple syndication," is a commonly used format for sharing and distributing Web content. Using an RSS reader, users can view data feeds that have been sent from the Judiciary Web site directly to a personal start page of any common Internet homepage, such as My Yahoo or iGoogle.

"More and more members of the public rely on RSS feeds to manage the overwhelming amount of news and information produced online. For frequent Web site visitors such as attorneys and reporters, RSS delivers real-time updates on time-sensitive topics such as court opinions, notices to the bar, and other court news, directly to their own start-up pages." said Judge Grant.

In order to get the Judiciary RSS feed, go to the Courts home page at judiciary.state.nj.us and look for the RSS icon under the "Here's the Latest" section. Users can choose one or all types of feeds: Judiciary News Alerts, Supreme Court News and Notices to the Bar. Additional instructions tell how to add those feeds to a personal start page.

Finally, Web site visitors will find that the New Jersey Courts newsletter, Judiciary Times, now has a monthly online supplement entitled JT Briefing. The monthly edition will cover timely topics about the Judiciary, while Judiciary Times will remain dedicated to longer, more in-depth coverage of the courts. JT Briefing also is available as part of the Judiciary Alerts RSS feed.

"JT Briefing contains the same quality coverage of court news and events with the added benefits of free and timely publication. As with our other Web enhancements, JT Briefing is a quick, efficient and economical way for us to improve our communications with court users," said Judge Grant.